Traveling to a Food Desert

We will be heading to our cabin for Labor Day weekend, and as always, we need to bring food. Our cabin is located in an area where you can not just run to the store if you run out of something. There is a small town nearby, but the options for food consist of 3 bars (and I am not talking about good bar food) and a gas station. The gas station is a pretty well stocked one, if you can live on chips, candy, alcohol, pop (soda if you are from Wisconsin), cheese curds and beef jerky. I know, sounds like fun huh?

Unfortunately, my system would not take it, and I definitely don't want my family living off of that. I am not saying that we won't possibly pick up a "snack" there, but we definitely can not rely on it for our groceries.

The wonderful thing is that it is still prime veggie season at our CSA (community supported agriculture) Crossroads Community Farm. We will have broccoli and beans with our whole grilled chicken. Grilled corn with our hamburgers and turkey burgers. We will be making Kabobs with chicken, tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions. Dessert? Melons, also from the farm. Snacks? Nuts, coconut flakes, dried mango and banana chips, yogurt covered almonds for Marie, carrot and cucumbers with hummus.

After the photo I realized I was missing some very important things that will be going with us. Granola to go with Mark and Marie's yogurt. Eggs to go with our sweet potato/potato and pecan hash and avocado slices. Citrus Kombucha for my daughter and I. Most importantly for tired parents? Our coffee and my coconut milk. 

At this point you are probably asking why I am telling you our menu? Am I making you hungry? The reason I am listing out all our food is because there is not one thing in that picture that I would be able to buy at the local gas station near our cabin. This is not a tragedy for us as we bring our own food, have been for 10 years. The thing that makes me sad is that the locals either need to buy food there, or travel a distance to go buy food. The nearest town with good, healthy options is La Crosse, which is 40 minutes away, or Viroqua which is 30 minutes away. 

I feel lucky that we get to travel, and travel with good food. If you too are traveling this holiday weekend, eat well, and be safe!

I Love You....Especially When You are Sleeping

This is an old photo from last winter. I had to use this one as my husband has our newer Ipad with current photos. I love how she put her baby doll to bed by her. 

I am writing this at 10:20pm, way past my bedtime. My husband is on a business trip and I should be in bed. Instead, after a bad day (four to be exact), I have a hard time going to bed. I am exhausted. I miss my husband, specifically for hugs and support. It has been a hard week being a single parent, hence the reason I have had no creative energy to post on my blog this week. However, after a bad week I am trying to be postive. My sweetie is coming home tomorrow! I do not have to do this on my own again starting tomorrow!

Part of why I started this blog is because I feel like I have all this creative energy to share. I am amazed at how quickly it can be sapped.  I keep thinking about the people I know that do this by themselves (parenting) everyday and can not stop being amazed.  It humbles me to realize there are stronger people out there, people who can stay happy and healthy without a partner. This may by choice or chance, but they are doing it.

Tonight, before I thought I was going to bed, I checked in our daughter as usual. She was sleeping in her pull-up, no pajamas for this girl. I crawled into bed and snuggled with her. We had had our fourth bad day in a row and I sent her to bed after we had been fighting (again). I had made sure to go in before she fell asleep to make sure we were okay (we have a don't go to bed angry policy in our house). We were, but I think things were a little tense on my end. I still needed a snuggle, even if she was okay and off in dreamland. I always find it amazing how much I love her when she is sleeping. Doesn't every parent?

This is part of what makes our family happy and healthy. Even after a bad day (or four), I like to believe tomorrow will be better. It doesn't mean I may not be cranky tomorrow, or that our daughter and I will not fight (is she four or fourteen?), but at least I like to think it will be better. And at the end of the day, in some way, we will make up.  We will hug and kiss and hope for a better tomorrow. 

  

Cooking and Dining "Art"

I thought I would talk about one aspect of "conscious design" as it pertains to our house.  Of course it involves cooking and dining tools as 80% of my blog will most likely revolve around food!

When preparing to move into an "almost" 800 square foot house we had to decided what we were going to keep, what needed to be stored and what we were getting rid of. Thankfully, the storage part was already being taken care of at our cabin. When I was 7-8 months pregnant somebody finally bought our 2500 square foot house (it had been on the market for 2-1/2 years!) and we moved into an apartment. At that time everything we didn't need got stored at the cabin. We then took care of a house for a friend for 2 years while looking for, and then finally purchasing our current house. 

The house we purchased needed to have the kitchen, bathroom and breezeway completely redone. This allowed for us to really think about how we wanted to use the spaces and what we planned to have in them. As you can tell by my blogs, I love food and cooking more then anything (after my family of course). I needed to decide what things I really use in the kitchen and where I was going to put everything. My husband even had to create a pantry of sorts in the basement to store things like my stand-up mixer that I use about twice a year (I am not a baker). Even though the mixer looked pretty on our counter at first, it took up precious space. 

When my husband and I first started dating I had a lot of knick-knacks. He was not a big fan of them. Over the years I have learned to appreciate that less is more. Instead of knick-knacks, we purchase useful things for decorations. Everything has it's purpose (except maybe some of our daughter's toys, but you try taking anything away from her!). I am not saying we don't have pictures and art on our walls, but I no longer have my glass animal candle holders I saved up for and bought from our local Hallmark store when I was in grade school.

Below are a few of my favorite "art" things:

My very large cast iron skillet. This is a new favorite. We registered for this for our wedding, and eventually my dad and his wife got it for us the following Christmas. Right away they asked, "what the heck are you planning on cooking with that!" I have to admit it is really heavy and it was stored at our cabin for many years after we sold our first house. I recently unearthed it and it now has a permanent home on our stove top. Honestly, at first I was too lazy to put it away (seriously, it is a good work out). Eventually though I started cooking most things in it. Now, I just love how pretty it looks in my kitchen!

 These shelves are in our "diningroom/office". The two dutch ovens I use for everything! One friend asked me if I actually use the bowls or if they are just for decoration. Nope, I use them (but they are also nice to look at). All right, I have to admit I don't use the things on the top row often. However, instead of using decorations on that shelf, I decided to use what I already had. Part of the reason I don't use them though is because I don't really eat bread or cake, so I kind of forget about the cake stand and bread basket (sorry my two sweeties). 

Knives! If you can only afford to spend money on one thing in your kitchen, invest in a good knife set! Again, when space is at a premium, hanging a simple and inexpensive knife magnet is a way to save space. Plus, it looks nice on the wall. 

When designing our kitchen we decided to include glass front cabinets for our dishes. Fun dishes to me are like a piece of art (assuming you can keep them organized, and I do). When my husband and I registered for gifts for our wedding we did not choose fine china. Nothing against it, but it is just not us. I wanted something durable that was going to last. Fiestaware!  

Oh, the pink piggy bowls? I found them at a garage sale a neighbor was having. Our daughter loves them, and I love seeing them peek out of the glass cabinet doors at me!

The rest of our house is pretty calm as far as colors go, but using colorful dishes and servingware is a nice way to add a little pop and interest in our spaces. Also, using these pieces as decorations helps to eliminate clutter that seems to pile up quickly in a "petite" house.

Ugly Juice

Ok, it's really watermelon and cucumber juice, but it ain't pretty!

At this time of year we find ourselves with lots of cucumbers, and you can only make so many pickles and tomato/cucumber salads. We also find ourselves with the occasional mealy watermelon. These are not that great to eat, but the juice is delicious!

We use our juicer, but if you don't mind pulp (or I suppose you could strain it), you can also use a blender.

This is not a recipe exactly, just a suggestion. It is really up to you how many cucumbers and how much watermelon you want to use. My only suggestion is that you use more melon then cucumbers. Also, when juicing, it is best to drink the juice right away to get the full nutritional value, or at least within the next 24 hours. So let that be your guide for how much to make at a time.

At least our daughter doesn't care what it looks like!

Yes, it is an ugly color! 

The nice thing about this juice is that watermelons and cucumbers are mostly water, so you are not wasting a lot. In fact, when I go to compost the pulp, it is hardly anything. If you want the fiber, then by all means use a blender and keep the pulp. Our almost 4 year old does not like pulp, so this is a nice refreshing treat and a change from our usual water!

If you would like to try juicing, a great website is Juice Recipes.com.

You can look up recipes based on what you have in your refrigerator or create your own. You can then see what you are getting from your juice. Here is an example based on watermelon and cucumber juice.

(4) Cups of diced watermelon and (1) 8-1/4" Cucumber:

149 Calories

16% of your daily potassium

4 grams of protein

14% of your daily Vitamin A

45% of your daily Vitamin C

20% of your daily Iron

Riboflavin, Thiamin, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin K, Copper, Magnesium, Phosphorus, the list goes on!

My favorite? 589 grams of water, that equals 20 ounces! This should make the non-water drinkers happy!

Homemade Organic Apple Sauce

Whenever I find a bag of discounted apples at our local Willy Street Co-op, I make applesauce. These apples tend to be bruised and sometimes ugly, but perfect for applesauce! 

Ingredients:

Note: You can play around with amounts. I based this recipe on what I purchased that day. Less apples? Use just enough water to cover them.

-5 pounds organic apples- our favorite is a mix of sweet and tart 

-2 quarts water (or enough to cover the apples)

-Cinnamon (start with 2-3 tsp, taste, add more if desired)

Optional: vanilla and honey

Directions:

1. Roughly chop apples, place in large pot (there is no need to peel the apples).

2. Cover with water and start to boil.

3. Once boiling, lower to a simmer and cook until apples start to fall apart (about 15 minutes).

4. When apples are done, let cool for awhile. This makes them easier (and safer) to handle when transferring them to a blender.

5. When cool enough to handle, blend the apples in batches. I use 4 cups apples to 1 cup cooking liquid. You can pulse them quickly to leave chunks, or blend completely (especially for those picky kiddos).

6. Transfer each batch to a large bowl. Once all the apples are blended and in the bowl you can add the cinnamon. If the mixture is not sweet enough for you, this is the time to add honey. It is best done while the mixture is still warm. A little vanilla is nice too.

So, what does 5 pounds of apples make?

1 quart and 3 pint jars of sauce which I will put in the freezer, 16 ounces of apple juice (keep the cooking liquid!), plus 1 small bowl of applesauce my daughter can not wait to eat!

Why do I make it? Besides the fact that I love cooking, it is for the cost savings of course! One jar of organic apple sauce can cost anywhere from $3-$6. For $5 I made everything mentioned above. Also, I have a bonus pint of apple juice (again, feel free to add a little honey to the warm juice before refrigerating it).

Warm apple sauce is delicious topped with some vanilla yogurt and granola, or if you really want to be naughty, vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Because Plain Water is Boring

All right, I drink a lot of water. Usually plain, but sometimes enough is enough. I came across this recipe for 'Detox Water' on a Facebook friend's page. Does it really work? I am not sure, but it sure tastes good!



I have modified it to fit into a 8 cup Ball Jar I like to keep in the refrigerator with various homemade beverages. The important thing is to play around with the quantities to see what you like. Check out the website Everyday Roots for more information on this beverage and other suggestions.

What I use:

(1) Large lemon, peel removed in not organic

(1) Medium cucumber

Mint leaves- 10-20 depending on how "minty" you like it

Put it in a jar and refrigerate for 24 hours, then enjoy! I like to keep the lemon, cucumber and mint leaves in the jar and refill it once (let it sit 24 hours again). 

25 Minutes...

....the time it took to put up 7-1/2 lbs. of veggies.

You read that right.

Shucking the corn, cutting the corn off, washing and chopping summer squash and zucchini, coring and chopping tomatoes. There was no blanching needed. Into BPA-free freezer bags and into our chest freezer. Granted, I think I have some pretty good knife skills after cooking for so many years, but even a newbie could do it.

If I were to buys 7 bags of organic frozen vegetables at $2.49 per bag that would equal $17.43 (I have not mentioned yet that I love numbers). Think of the money I would be throwing away if I did not use all my vegetables and then turned around and bought them at the grocery store in the winter!

As part of  Crossroads Community Farm in Cross Plains,Wisconsin I receive a lot of veggies! Add to that my love of gardening, and we now have twice as many vegetables in the growing season. For anyone new to gardening or a vegetable CSA (community supported agriculture), this can be VERY overwhelming! I remember when I worked at a CSA and I had the opportunity to bring home as many vegetables as I could, especially when we had extras. I hated wasting anything! So, I would bring things home and get all stressed out about trying to eat everything. Slowly I learned about preserving food. I tried canning, but decided that was not for me. I will still can salsa in the summer, but other then that I freeze everything I can.

We decided to buy a medium sized chest freezer so that we could freeze local vegetables and meat. In the early years when I was still a vegetarian it was mostly vegetables. My poor husband yearned for meat in the freezer, but since I was the main grocery shopper and cook in our family, I kind of forgot he was a meat eater.

Lucky for him I now eat meat in addition to vegetables. I actually asked him during one of my early re-entry into meat eating dinners if he still loved me even though I eat meat now (this was a joke of course). Like a good husband he replied, " I think I love you even more!"

In our chest freezer you will now find local and/or organic meat and vegetables. You will also find frozen pesto that I make and some popsicles (because it is a freezer and it is summer, duh). When I am a nice wifey and mother you may also find a few frozen pizzas (again something I forget to buy as I do not eat them). But that is it. What you won't find is prepackaged food, to me that would be a waste of electricity. I have nothing against some of the frozen meals, and have even been know to pick up a few Amy's meals for our freezer. But those go into our regular refrigerator freezer. I won't let them take up my precious chest freezer space.

If you find yourself with too many vegetables, a quick web search will give you suggestions on how to preserve them. If you want beautiful rows of canned goods displayed on shelves, go for it! If you are in a hurry and have the space, freeze them! Make sure to do a little research on what you are preserving as some things do not freeze well or will want to be blanched first.

Oh, and what will I do with the vegetables above? The corn can be cooked and used alone or in other dishes. The tomatoes will be used in place of canned tomatoes in soup and chili in the winter. The summer squash and zucchini will be used in soup, where it will hide from my daughter who does not like it!